Cyberattack signs detected at Vietnam’s national credit database

In a statement on Thursday, the VNCERT, which operates under the Ministry of Public Security, said it received reports of a "cybersecurity incident and signs of personal data breach" at CIC on Sept. 10.

CIC, which is managed by the State Bank of Vietnam, collects, processes, and stores credit information for the benefit of financial institutions and borrowers.

The VNCERT said it has been working with cybersecurity service providers, CIC and the central bank to investigate, respond and collect evidence.

"Initial findings indicate signs of cybercriminal intrusion to steal personal data. The scale of stolen data is still being determined."

A hacker breaches cybersecurity systems. Illustration from Meta AI

It warned organizations and individuals not to download, share, exploit, or use the compromised data, and that any violation would face penalties under the law.

It also advised the public to stay alert to prevent attackers from exploiting stolen information to spread malware, commit fraud or appropriate assets.

CIC has not issued a comment.

In the past year several organizations and businesses have fallen victim to cyberattacks. Last year securities firm VnDirect, oil company PVOIL and postal operator VNPost were targeted by ransomware attacks that disrupted their operations.